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He Will Live Up in the Sky
An up-and-coming rock star disappears from the stage in a flash of blinding white light, just in time to dodge a madman's bullet. Investigators soon discover the singer believed he was an alien abductee and was being closely monitored for signs of latent psychic abilities by various government agencies. The search ultimately leads to a cascading series of shocking revelations about human experimentation, high-tech surveillance and occult practices, proving just how deep the rabbit hole really goes.
Five years in the making, He Will Live Up in the Sky is the first novel by Eagle Award-winning author Christopher Loring Knowles (Our Gods Wear Spandex). A galloping thrill-ride, He Will Live Up in the Sky is filled with memorable characters, gallows humor, sexual tension and searing drama, not to mention a rocket-fueled series of twists and turns from start to finish.
The culmination of years of research and experience, He Will Live Up in the Sky is a work of "nonfiction fiction." It guides the reader on a breathless primer through the very real spiderweb of intelligence agencies, organized crime, high technology and secret sects weaving in and out of nearly every aspect of our lives today.
“Christopher Knowles’ debut novel can easily be called a “page-turner” More than an engaging thriller, the book is an original and penetrating narrative about renegade intelligence organizations, the sadistic music industry, and the incubators of today’s rampant conspiracy culture. Add a plot radiating with PKDian speculations and a space oddity ambiance, what you get is a story that will stay with you for a long time. You may never look at this country the same way again.”
Miguel Conner, author of Voices of Gnosticism & the Dark Instinct series.
“In his gripping debut novel, Knowles offers readers an intensely readable and detailed story of a troubled and haunted Grunge-era rock singer whose puzzling disappearance takes the reader along the ancient and sinister backroads of Knowles' native New England and into the black heart of a diabolical conspiracy that involves government mind control programs, UFOs and alien abduction, strange deaths and disappearances and military-industrial-complex-approved cult activity that will chill you to the bone. I could not put it down!"
Andrew W. Griffin, author of Rock Catapault & Dust Devil Dreams"
Knowles uncannily synthesizes true events, persistent rumors, and the utterly fantastical into a Lynchian story where fact, fiction, the objectively real, and the imaginal become impossible to differentiate. There is something for every armchair anomalist, and few bits of esoterica go unremarked upon in the broad mythology Knowles weaves into the narrative. True aficionados of unexplained phenomena - with all their frustrations, dead ends, bizarre synchronicities and synchromystic hints - may well find He Will Live Up in the Sky the masterwork they have been searching for."
Joshua Cutchin, author of Thieves in the Night & A Trojan Feast"
A fast-paced, intriguing paranormal thriller, which slowly reveals its juicy bits at the right time like a classy burlesque act. Yet the thing which will probably amaze readers the most after devouring this absolute page-turner is discovering that the most outlandish parts in this 'fiction novel' happened to be true."
Miguel Romero AKA “Red Pill Junkie,” The Daily Grail
Five years in the making, He Will Live Up in the Sky is the first novel by Eagle Award-winning author Christopher Loring Knowles (Our Gods Wear Spandex). A galloping thrill-ride, He Will Live Up in the Sky is filled with memorable characters, gallows humor, sexual tension and searing drama, not to mention a rocket-fueled series of twists and turns from start to finish.
The culmination of years of research and experience, He Will Live Up in the Sky is a work of "nonfiction fiction." It guides the reader on a breathless primer through the very real spiderweb of intelligence agencies, organized crime, high technology and secret sects weaving in and out of nearly every aspect of our lives today.
“Christopher Knowles’ debut novel can easily be called a “page-turner” More than an engaging thriller, the book is an original and penetrating narrative about renegade intelligence organizations, the sadistic music industry, and the incubators of today’s rampant conspiracy culture. Add a plot radiating with PKDian speculations and a space oddity ambiance, what you get is a story that will stay with you for a long time. You may never look at this country the same way again.”
Miguel Conner, author of Voices of Gnosticism & the Dark Instinct series.
“In his gripping debut novel, Knowles offers readers an intensely readable and detailed story of a troubled and haunted Grunge-era rock singer whose puzzling disappearance takes the reader along the ancient and sinister backroads of Knowles' native New England and into the black heart of a diabolical conspiracy that involves government mind control programs, UFOs and alien abduction, strange deaths and disappearances and military-industrial-complex-approved cult activity that will chill you to the bone. I could not put it down!"
Andrew W. Griffin, author of Rock Catapault & Dust Devil Dreams"
Knowles uncannily synthesizes true events, persistent rumors, and the utterly fantastical into a Lynchian story where fact, fiction, the objectively real, and the imaginal become impossible to differentiate. There is something for every armchair anomalist, and few bits of esoterica go unremarked upon in the broad mythology Knowles weaves into the narrative. True aficionados of unexplained phenomena - with all their frustrations, dead ends, bizarre synchronicities and synchromystic hints - may well find He Will Live Up in the Sky the masterwork they have been searching for."
Joshua Cutchin, author of Thieves in the Night & A Trojan Feast"
A fast-paced, intriguing paranormal thriller, which slowly reveals its juicy bits at the right time like a classy burlesque act. Yet the thing which will probably amaze readers the most after devouring this absolute page-turner is discovering that the most outlandish parts in this 'fiction novel' happened to be true."
Miguel Romero AKA “Red Pill Junkie,” The Daily Grail
- GenresFictionScience Fiction
370 pages, Hardcover
Published April 3, 2023
23 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 1, 2020
If you're a fan of high weirdness you need to read this novel. It's full of conspiracies, UFOs, occultism, and Machiavellian intrigue. Very few novels that deal with the occult use genuine occult lore; they usually just make up whatever they like. This novel's lore is solidly grounded in actual theories and research about the occult.
Also, it's a page-turner full of thrills and fully realized characters and sly humor!
Also, it's a page-turner full of thrills and fully realized characters and sly humor!
May 23, 2020
Disappointing. After Reading The Lovecraft Code by Peter Levenda I was directed towards this book as being a 'fictional' account of the product of much research. I had heard Chris Knowles interviewed, as I had Levenda and I bought both of their books on the strength of the ideas expressed in those conversations.
Knowles turned out to be very stingy with his knowledge in this book, dumping it in giant gulps towards the end of what he must be thinking will become a series.
Every character was drawn unsympathetically and I grew weary of the random foul-mouthed banter which tripped out of every character's mouth as if they'd all grown up in the same family.
The true moments of magic or wonder were brushed past quickly in favor of unrelenting scepticism from the main characters.
Stylistically there were so many redundant iterations of the same word, for example: 'He didn't want to get back in the car again after such a long drive. But he got back in again.' This happened so often within a paragraph or a consecutive passage that it surpassed the actual proofreading errors like: 'We've have to go back to Boston.' or 'He needed see her urgently.' So many. It actually took me out of the flow of a narrative that veered between tragic backstories (for everyone!), police procedural, paranormal investigations, government conspiracies, mind-control horrors, and action shoot-outs.
I immediately bought the sequel to The Lovecraft Code. I'm not interested in the sequel to this one.
Knowles turned out to be very stingy with his knowledge in this book, dumping it in giant gulps towards the end of what he must be thinking will become a series.
Every character was drawn unsympathetically and I grew weary of the random foul-mouthed banter which tripped out of every character's mouth as if they'd all grown up in the same family.
The true moments of magic or wonder were brushed past quickly in favor of unrelenting scepticism from the main characters.
Stylistically there were so many redundant iterations of the same word, for example: 'He didn't want to get back in the car again after such a long drive. But he got back in again.' This happened so often within a paragraph or a consecutive passage that it surpassed the actual proofreading errors like: 'We've have to go back to Boston.' or 'He needed see her urgently.' So many. It actually took me out of the flow of a narrative that veered between tragic backstories (for everyone!), police procedural, paranormal investigations, government conspiracies, mind-control horrors, and action shoot-outs.
I immediately bought the sequel to The Lovecraft Code. I'm not interested in the sequel to this one.
September 26, 2021
Definitely a page turner, and as it was written by Christopher Knowles of the Secret Sun it is full of synchro-mysticism, conspiracy, and is likely far closer to the truth than you are going to find in a Dan Brown novel.
This is Knowles first foray into fiction and I hope he decides to write more. The story follows a black ops operation that is searching for remote viewing candidates and ends up on the dark side of some pretty shady stuff. The central candidate is a grunge rock singer who claims to have been abducted by aliens and whose disappearance is followed by a whole bunch of death and mayhem.
Highly recommended for fans of the Secret Sun, Dan Brown conspiracy thrillers, and anyone looking for a dark but exciting page turner that you don't want to put down.
This is Knowles first foray into fiction and I hope he decides to write more. The story follows a black ops operation that is searching for remote viewing candidates and ends up on the dark side of some pretty shady stuff. The central candidate is a grunge rock singer who claims to have been abducted by aliens and whose disappearance is followed by a whole bunch of death and mayhem.
Highly recommended for fans of the Secret Sun, Dan Brown conspiracy thrillers, and anyone looking for a dark but exciting page turner that you don't want to put down.
August 12, 2020
The Maltese Falcon meets the X-Files. MINOR SPOILERS
I loved the plot. It had a lot of twists and turns. The two main characters were great. The villains monologue at the end was a little melodramatic,but that's a minor point. A real page turner. I would love to see these characters again.
I loved the plot. It had a lot of twists and turns. The two main characters were great. The villains monologue at the end was a little melodramatic,but that's a minor point. A real page turner. I would love to see these characters again.
May 22, 2021
To say I was disappointed was an understatement. I'm a big fan of Christopher Knowles blog, his podcast appearances and superhero book, but this... where to start?
The plot is going nowhere, the characters are flat and unlikable, some important people are killed offscreen with no explanation. There are no real developments, all new info is just revealed by someone talking. I was afraid of an occult-conspiratorial info dumping (like in fiction by Peter Levenda or Tracy Twyman), but there are no real info at all. Just some vague alluding to UFO, remote viewers and MK-experiments. For a "synchromystic" who is writing a mind-bending stuff on Secret Sun, Knowles here serves us bland and forgettable book with no real pace, stakes and insight.
The plot is going nowhere, the characters are flat and unlikable, some important people are killed offscreen with no explanation. There are no real developments, all new info is just revealed by someone talking. I was afraid of an occult-conspiratorial info dumping (like in fiction by Peter Levenda or Tracy Twyman), but there are no real info at all. Just some vague alluding to UFO, remote viewers and MK-experiments. For a "synchromystic" who is writing a mind-bending stuff on Secret Sun, Knowles here serves us bland and forgettable book with no real pace, stakes and insight.
August 17, 2022
He does a great job with bringing his characters to life
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews